Brothers
by Ktkat9
Summary: Yusei gets sick, and Jack has to take care of him. But that's just what brothers do. Isn't it? One-shot. Please tell me what you think.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so, I got this idea from the phrase 'everybody has their quirks', but hit writers block just a few paragraphs in. It sat in my notebook for a while, and then, I had a dream. The only thing I remember about it was Jack, with this sad, puppy-dog face telling Yusei, "I haven't played the role of 'Big Brother' in a long time." Poof! The rest of the story wrote itself!

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It was a cool, fall day, about three weeks or so before winter started. Some trees still had leaves, but even those were brown and dead. Alley cats had grown into their winter coats, and outdoor dogs had been moved indoors. A certain redheaded duelist, and a pair of twins had to pull out their big, thick, jackets just for a short walk over to Poppo Time.

"How is it this _cold_?" asked Luna, shivering in the early morning chill.

"We'll be there soon, don't worry." Akiza replied.

And, true to her word, they were soon at their destination. But as they were hanging up their coats, a commotion came from up the stairs. It sounded like a scuffle, along with Jack and Crow shouting. Suddenly, a door slammed and the former king and ex-thief marched downstairs.

"Today's probably not a good day for you three to be over." Jack barely even glanced their way as he wrapped an ice pack in a towel and placed it on Crow's shoulder. He then found a kettle, filled it with water, and put it on the stove to boil.

"What's going on?" Akiza was pretty worried by this point.

Jack hesitated and glanced at Crow.

Crow shrugged, and then winced as it jostled his shoulder. "Might as well tell them. They're bound to find out anyway."

Jack sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yusei's sick. He had a fever last night before bed, and today its, well . . ." he broke off, not sure exactly how to explain it.

"What Jack's trying to say is that some people act very out of character when they're sick. Yusei's one of them." Crow filled in.

Akiza looked harder at him. He'd removed the ice pack and was messaging his shoulder. "Yusei gets violent?" she asked, incredulous. Sure, he was from Satellite, and used to be in a gang, but he was still one of the gentlest people she'd ever met.

"Not . . . exactly." Jack pulled the kettle off the stove. "More like, childish."

"Childish? What do you mean?"

"Ever since he was young, Yusei would always crawl into either mine or Jack's beds whenever he didn't feel well. I guess the habit kinda grew. Now, he'll just hug whatever he can get his hands on when he's sick."

Akiza tried to picture Yusei hugging anyone, especially his teammates, and ended up giggling. "I'm sorry. I just find that hard to imagine."

Crow placed the ice pack back in the freezer. "Trust me, it stopped being _cute_ around the time he started putting on some muscle. And he always does it when he's asleep, so we can't just ask him to stop."

"Um, if he's sick, and hugging something makes him feel better, why ask him to stop? It seems harmless enough."

Jack and Crow glanced at each other again. "Nervin thought so too. He went to check on Yusei once when he was ill and Yusei got a hold on him so tight he almost lost consciousness." Crow told her.

"Wow." Akiza had never expected such a story about the leader of the Signers.

"Yeah. So this is probably not the best time for you to be over." Jack said again.

"Yeah." Akiza agreed. "Leo, Luna, how about we go to the movies instead?"

"Okay."

"Alright."

Before they left, Akiza turned back around. "Call me if you need anything."

"We will."

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Jack sighed as he went back upstairs, damp rag in hand. It wasn't really all that long ago that he was Jack Atlas, King of turbo duels, alone in a world full of people focused on him. But it felt like a lifetime ago that he was just Jack Atlas, adopted son of Martha, helping to care for his younger siblings. Those days were long gone, and he was ashamed of how long it had been since he'd cared for them. Crow telling Akiza about Yusei getting sick and _Nervin_ caring for him had been like a slap in the face.

Jack had left Satellite, left his brothers, behind. How many times had they needed him, their big brother, and had to face the fat that he wasn't there? Yusei had gotten a criminal mark on his face; Crow had become a thief . . . what else had they gone through in his absence?

He paused outside Yusei's room, his hand on the doorknob. After all that he'd done, all that he'd put them through, here he was. Living with them. But they were no longer brothers. They were _teammates_.

He shook his head to rid it of all such thoughts and opened the door. No matter what Jack had just told himself, though, the person he saw in bed wasn't the mighty and fearless leader of the signers. He wasn't the champion of turbo duels, or even the most skilled mechanic in the big leagues. He was just Yusei Fudo, his youngest brother. No matter how tough of an exterior Jack always tried to keep up, the sight of Yusei shivering in his sleep caused him to fight the urge to call Martha. Ask her what to do. Have her make it all better.

"Yusei." Jack murmured. The teen had apparently kicked off his blanket in his sleep as it was now covering only his feet.

Jack placed the rag on Yusei's nightstand and carefully covered him with the blanket. In the process of pulling it up, though, his hand brushed against Yusei's tank top, alerting him to how damp it was. Jack sighed and shook his head before folding the blanket down to Yusei's waist.

He opened the closet to look for a thicker shirt, and almost immediately rolled his eyes. This was Yusei; the boy only owned t-shirts and the one jacket that was currently in the wash.

"Yusei," he growled, mainly to himself, as Yusei was still asleep, "I don't care how much you hate clothes shopping. The instant you're better, I'm taking you to get some sweaters."

Jack walked across the hall to his own room and grabbed the smallest shirt he could find. It would still be big on him, but it was better than nothing. He went back and closed the door behind himself.

"Yusei," he whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder, "wake up." Yusei shifted slightly in his sleep, but gave no other response. Jack considered waking him for a moment longer, and then eased himself down slowly until he was seated on the bed. He slipped one arm under Yusei's shoulders and eased him up so that he was leaning against Jack, head resting on his shoulder. He began to remove the damp garment slowly, and glanced away when he saw the scar on his abdomen. The one he'd seen happen from the helicopter. He had relived that moment again and again. Kalin, then a dark signer, turbo dueling Yusei. Yusei crashing. Mina and the pilot telling him there was no way to land.

That was when he'd first realized it; he had left them, told himself that he didn't need them; that they didn't need him, but just because he wasn't there didn't mean they had stopped needing him.

Martha had chewed him out the next time she'd seen him. And Jack knew he deserved it.

Still trying to avoid looking at the scar, Jack tossed the shirt in Yusei's laundry basket. He then pulled the sweater over the teen's head and eased his arms through the sleeves.

As he gently lay Yusei back down, though, he felt arms, thin but strong, wrap themselves around his torso.

"Yusei. Yusei let go. I need to . . ." he sighed. "Fine. I guess I could say for a while."

Yusei unconsciously pulled closer to Jack, who was now lying down next to him.

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Crow returned from grocery shopping to find the apartment quiet. He finished putting away everything he'd bought and put a can of soup on he stove to cook.

"I swear," Crow growled to himself, "if Jack's gone out for coffee again . . ." Crow let the threat hang empty in the air. He glanced at the soup and decided that he had enough time to check up on Yusei.

He went upstairs and quietly opened the door. Instantly, he did a double take. It was almost like being back at Martha's. Seeing Jack and Yusei like that, Yusei's head on Jack's shoulder, Jack's arm around Yusei's back, made him remember when they were young. Yusei had always had a slightly weaker immune system than his brothers, not to mention he suffered from nightmares, so growing up it hadn't been uncommon to find Yusei curled up in Jack's bed. Sure, he went to Crow for comfort too, at times, but Jack always knew what to do.

Silently, Crow closed the door and went back down to stir the soup.

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Jack opened his eyes, feeling something beside him shift. Glancing down, he saw Yusei blink and look around blearily. After a moment, he noticed someone was beside him.

"Mn, Jack?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. A bit . . .Sorry." Yusei unwrapped his arms, but Jack didn't let him go. Yusei looked at him questioningly, but older of the two was busy in his own thoughts. "Jack?"

"Why did you accept me back?"

Yusei cocked his head to the side, confused.

"I abandoned you. You, and Crow, and everyone else in Satellite. Why did you let me come back?"

Yusei was silent for a minute. "Because that's what families do-" Jack sighing and turning his head away, eyes closed, cut him off.

"I know we're still family and all, but . . ." Jack trailed off and they lapsed into silence. "I guess its just all sinking in for me. I haven't really been the 'Big Brother' in a while." Jack absentmindedly ran his fingers through Yusei's hair. He paused, though, when he heard Yusei mumble something. "What?"

"I asked if you were blind, Nii-san."

Jack's heart skipped a beat when he heard that old nickname. The only times he'd ever said it were when one of them was sick and they were alone.

"What do you mean, Kiddo?" Jack responded, using his nickname for Yusei.

"I wont tell. You just need to be more observant." They lay in silence for another minute, until Yusei began fidgeting. "Jack? What am I doing in your shirt?"

"You had a fever. Your tank top was covered in sweat." Yusei blushed, but Jack continued before he could say anything. "And what's wrong with you, anyway? We told you to go to bed last night and that's what you put on? Its like thirty degrees outside."

"I always sleep in-,"

"Well, not anymore. I'm taking you shopping later."

"Ugh, whatever." Yusei looked past Jack to the clock. "I'm gonna get to work." He said, seeing that the time was now four pm.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm feeling better now."

Jack shot him a dubious look, but got out of bed. Yusei went to do the same, but as soon as he was on his feet, the room tilted.

Jack saw him sway and managed to catch him just as his knees gave way. He eased them both back down to sit on the bed and rocked Yusei back and forth, running his fingers through his hair soothingly.

As the wave of dizziness slowly dissipated, Yusei became aware of a slow, steady beating in his ear. He blinked. What was it? It wasn't bad. In fact, it seemed to help his headache go away. Yusei saw a white jacket blocking his vision and out two and two together. 'Jack's heartbeat?' "Mn." Yusei closed his eyes and leaned into Jack's hand, gently combing through his hair.

"'Feeling better', huh?"

"Maybe not as much as I thought."

Jack placed his hand on Yusei's forehead, while the other hand began rubbing small circles on his back. "You're still warm." He muttered. He looked for the rag he'd brought in with him, hoping it was still able to cool the smaller teen's fever off some, and saw that Crow must have come in at some point. The rag was now resting on the edge of a bowl of cool water, which was placed by a note.

" _I put your cell in your pocket. Call me when he wakes up. I made soup. PS. Sent Martha a pic. If you're nice, I wont show Carly."_

Jack crumpled the note up and threw it on the floor.

"You're picking that up." Yusei muttered.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Jack grabbed the rag and rang it out as best he could with only one hand. "If you are really feeling better, I'll bring your laptop up later. But for now, you're going back to sleep." Yusei didn't protest, and when Jack looked down, he saw why.

Yusei's eyes were closed and his breathing had evened out. His head was leaning against Jack's chest. Jack blinked in surprise, then smiled softly. "I guess I can be blind, Kiddo. I guess I can be." He whispered.

Slowly, trying not to wake him up, Jack lay Yusei back down in bed, rag on his forehead. "I'll bring your computer up later. Get well soon." He said as he lay himself back down next to his little brother.

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So, what did you all think? Please let me know. Also, did anyone else notice that, while more than capable of doing a great job, the leader of the signers is the _youngest_ brother? And someone as proud as Jack is perfectly fine with this? Anyway. That's it from me. Review!


	2. Author's Note

I'm sorry if you were expecting another chapter to Brothers, but that was just a one-shot. I got a request to write an author's note, so here it goes.

First, Thank You PipeDream for all of your reviews! I know I've said this already, but they really made my day!

Now, both of the people who reviewed said that they couldn't figure out what Yusei meant by Jack being blind. (By the way, this is my first time doing an author's note as just a chapter, so bear with me -.-) Jack told Yusei that he hadn't been doing a good job of being the 'big brother' he and Crow needed. That line was just about how Jack really is a good big brother, but just doesn't see it himself.

And as for their ages, I read online that Yusei is 18, Crow is 20, and Jack is 21. I hope this cleared some things up for people! Please drop a review for this story! And again, thank you all so much! :3


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